Embedded PCB in Lock Housing for Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional access-control technology devices face challenges with constrained real estate in locks, requiring intricate and burdensome wiring, fabrication difficulties, and performance limitations due to external electronic circuitry, which is also less vandal-resistant and difficult to size accurately.
Innovation Solution
Embedding a printed circuit board (PCB) with electrical components within the lock housing, allowing for digital monitoring and electronic actuation, while avoiding interference with mechanical components and optimizing space usage, enabling efficient conversion of mechanical locks to electrified access-control devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If external electronic circuitry is housed in a mortised recess or escutcheon, then electronic actuation and monitoring are enabled, but intricate wiring is required and real estate within the lock is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the electronic circuitry with the lock body by integrating a printed circuit board (PCB) directly into the lock housing. This merging eliminates the need for separate external circuitry housing and reduces wiring complexity by placing all electronic components within the existing lock structure, thereby achieving electronic actuation and monitoring without external assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the available three-dimensional space within the lock housing by mounting the PCB on internal surfaces of the lock body. This dimensional approach allows electronic components to be positioned in previously unused spaces, enabling integration without increasing the external dimensions of the lock and avoiding interference with mechanical components.
2Reliability
If wiring is routed through the lock body, then electrical connection between external circuitry and lock components is achieved, but wiring is subject to damage from mechanical components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the electronic circuitry from external housing and relocates it directly into the lock body via an integrated PCB. This extraction eliminates the need for separate wire harnesses routing through the lock, as all electrical connections are made through traces on the PCB itself, thereby removing the vulnerability of discrete wiring to mechanical damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical wiring systems with an integrated PCB architecture. Instead of using discrete wires and connectors that are susceptible to mechanical damage, the electrical connections are established through rigid PCB traces and surface-mounted components, providing a more robust and damage-resistant electrical connection system.
3Ease of manufacture
If lock casing is fabricated with holes and slots for wiring accommodation, then wiring routing is enabled, but fabrication difficulty and real estate consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates the PCB design into the lock manufacturing process at an early stage. By planning the PCB layout and mounting locations during the initial design phase, the need for post-fabrication wiring modifications is eliminated. The PCB is manufactured and integrated into the lock body before final assembly, simplifying the overall fabrication process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the PCB to serve multiple functions simultaneously: providing electrical connections, housing electronic components, and integrating with the lock housing structure. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate wiring channels, mounting brackets, and external circuitry housings, thereby reducing fabrication complexity while maintaining wiring capability.
4Extent of automation
If escutcheon-type assembly projects outward from door exterior, then electronic circuitry is housed, but auxiliary hardware addition is precluded and vandal resistance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the electronic circuitry housing with the lock body itself, eliminating the need for a separate projecting escutcheon assembly. By integrating all electronic components within the existing lock housing, the invention maintains a compact profile that does not protrude from the door, thereby preserving vandal resistance and allowing auxiliary hardware to be added without interference.
Data Source
AI summary
Electrified access-control technology devices for a door, particularly electrified locks for a door, having embedded circuitry therein, and methods of making the same. One or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) having various electronic circuitry are secured inside a housing that encases an access-control device, particularly a lock, for a door. The one or more PCB(s) may be embedded on an internal surface of the housing such that the embedded PCB resides inside the housing along with the lock itself. The embedded PCB(s) avoid interference of both any working components of the lock inside the housing and any openings residing in the housing.